Hotel Arpit owner sent to two-day police custody
KAROL BAGH FIRE Two other hotel employees’ police custody extended; owner’s brother, also wanted in the case, still absconding
NEWDELHI: A Delhi court on Sunday sent Rakesh Goel, the owner of Karol Bagh’s Hotel Arpit Palace, to two-day police custody.
It also granted police custody of the hotel’s general manager Rajender Kumar and manager Vikas Kumar for two more days after the crime branch, the investigating agency in the case, submitted that they need to confront them with the owner.
Goel, 63, was arrested on Saturday night from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, on his arrival from Doha.
“Goel needs to be confronted with Vikas Kumar and Rajender Kumar, and they need to be interrogated jointly and separately,” the crime branch told the Metropolitan Magistrate court at Tis Hazari.
The fire at the hotel last week had claimed 17 lives. The identity of one body is yet to be ascertained. The body is preserved for DNA sampling, the court was informed.
Police informed the court that the owners had illegally constructed a “bar-cum-restaurant” on the rooftop and further covered it with fibre sheets that began melting in the heat. “Many people were forced to jump despite reaching the terrace and two died because of this,” submitted the crime branch.
It also told the court that the hotel licence was issued in the name of Rakesh Goel’s brother, Shardendu Goel, who is absconding. The manager and the general manager ‘disclosed the day-to-day affairs’ to the Goel brothers and ’both of them are well aware of the irregularities committed in the functioning of the hotel,’ said the police.
However, Rakesh Goel’s lawyer, Vipul Lamba, submitted that the police did not arrest him, rather he surrendered. “I was in Doha at the time of the incident. My tickets were booked back in October (last year). I informed the police and surrendered. I was not arrested,” submitted Lamba on behalf of his client. Lamba
opposed Goel’s custody on health grounds saying that Goel has a heart ailment and has blood pressure problems.
He further argued that the police may approach the relevant department to examine the documents regarding any violations instead of seeking Goel’s police custody.
Of the people killed in the blaze, three were Myanmar nationals. The police also informed the court that the hotel administration did not seek any identity proof of the seven Myanmar nationals and other guests before providing them accommodation. The police sought time to investigate “the cause of such grievous lapse on the part of the accused”.
Hotel general manager Rajender Kumar’s lawyer, VD Mishra, submitted that at the time of the
incident, Kumar was not even at the hotel and that he is only an employee, who is not responsible or trained in using firefighting equipment.
Vikas Kumar’s lawyer, Sanjiv Jyoti, informed the court that he had joined the hotel only recently and was called in from Sikar, Rajasthan, on the night of the incident as the hotel was short-staffed.
“His only fault is that he stayed back till morning to help those caught in the blaze,” submitted Jyoti.
The preliminary investigation revealed that the cause of fire was a short-circuit in the hotel. “We need to hold a person accountable for the maintenance of the air-conditioner and firefighting equipment,” said the police, while seeking custody of the three accused.